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Medusa spider/Theories
Faking death * Locke/Bentham appears to be dead off the island because he is suffering from the effects of the Medusa Spider. In order to maintain this state beyond the normal eight hour duration someone (most likely not Locke himself) is repeatedly dosing him with the toxin. * Christian Shephard may have been bitten by several Medusa Spiders in Australia, inducing a longer period of paralysis, explaining why his coffin was empty and he appears to be alive in the flash-forwards. **Unlikely, as he was reported to have died of a heart-failure due to his serious alchoholic problems. * The effect of the spider may have been shown off Island. The Others may have used the spiders to 'fake' the death of people they wanted to take to the Island. ** Christian Shephard may have been paralyzed and then brought to the Island for some purpose (the coffin was found empty) *** Of course, Christian would have surely spoken to his son. **** We don't know his motives. He has hidden many facts - an illegitimate daughter for example. ** Talbot, the man that tracked down Locke about his mother marrying Cooper, may have been paralyzed to see the reaction of Cooper. There is a man named Talbot in 'Find815'. *** Cooper did kill Locke when he thought that Locke would tell his future wife but that could have been to protect himself even though he hadn't killed Talbot. ** The most likely candidate is Ben, explaining why he stumbled upon Jack in the funeral home (Ben was stopping by to give Locke/Bentham another dose) and possibly what Ben was hiding in the box in the vent of the hotel to which he later brought Jack (either returning the spiders he had with him to the box, or retrieving them for when he later turned Locke/Bentham's body over to his female associate in the butcher shop, or both). ** This would also explain Richard's comment to Locke while he is skipping through time on the island - "You're going to have to die, John." It is doubtful that John, the just-appointed leader of the Others, would immediately be sacrificed to solve a crisis on the island the Others must have known was coming (Ben himself both turned the wheel under the Orchid and allowed Kate & Sayid to leave). Therefore, Richard was merely saying that only something as drastic as Locke's death would convince the Oceanic Six to return, and thus he must appear to be dead to convince them. Since Locke did not get to hear any more of an explanation when time shifted, this may explain why he first attempted to convince the Oceanic Six to return by personally visiting and pleading with them, assuming he would be reluctant to kill himself outright with no guarantee of any kind of results. He likely ran into Ben (or whoever is keeping him under with the spiders) during or after his visits to the Oceanic Six, at which time the manner of his "death" was explained and arranged. *** This also addresses Ben's ambiguous response to Jack when Jack asked "He is dead, right?" (or something along those lines). Supernatural influences * The Monster may not have caused the several spiders to attack Nikki, it was probably the fact that the female was taken out of the jar and its pheromones attracted several males, like Arzt said it would. * The spiders had been sent with intent to paralyze Arzt and stop him from traveling to the Black Rock, where he met his demise. * The spider attack on Nikki was a manifestation of Paulo's thoughts and wishes, in other words an example of the Psychic Projection theory. This theory is supported by the closeup on Paulo's face and glances immediately prior to the beginning of the attack, as well as the odd Monster-like sounds. ** These glances are made in order to try to indicate to Nikki that she is about to be bitten by a spider. Research and uses * This spider's venom is the basis of The Hanso Foundation's research in preparing for the Spider Protocol * Sawyer stepped on a dart from a blowgun in an earlier episode as he and Kate returned to the beach. If any natives on the Island have learned how to milk these spiders, this paralytic venom would be ideal for blowgun darts. ** Whatever is on the darts that the Others use seems to have a different effect. The spiders venom causes paralyzation. We can assume, then, that Nikki and Paulo have been conscious since they were bitten, just unable to react. The darts, however, cause the victims to pass out, as we see them wake up startled when it wears off. The darts also act much quicker than the spider venom. *** Sawyer actually stepped on a dart from the dartboard in the Swan. * The venom of the spider may be involved in the tranquilizer